Many articles, and in particular household cooking utensils, require some form of handle and despite the fact that the problems involved in attaching a handle reliably to an article are well known, results, particularly with regard to cooking utensils, can often be far from satisfactory. For example, it is well known that saucepan handles can become loose in time and where a screw is provided for tightening the handle up on the saucepan this can still be quite ineffective for tightening the handle. Such handles usually remain attached to the saucepan if the screw is tightened up but are still able to rotate through a significant angle relative to the pan body; this can cause at the very least an irritating rattle and it is not inconceivable that such loose handles can be dangerous leading perhaps to the spillage of the hot contents. Additionally, once such a handle does become loose on the saucepan the screw tends to become loose again more rapidly tha before and more or less constant attention may be required to keep on tightening the screw so that the handle will still remain attached to the pan body without rotating through an intolerable angle. Yet again most people would probably tend to assume that if the screw were tightened up properly the handle would be tightened up correctly and such a misconception must surely be frustrating and could lead to the screw itself or pan being damaged by over tightening. Additionally, in some cases the screw itself can become stretched longitudinally through various temperature changes of the saucepan during use and this can only add to the problem of proper retention of the handle on the saucepan. Quite apart from the significant problems involved with regard to the manufacture of reliable saucepan handles there is also the matter of the costs involved and the relative case of production of articles requiring a handle and simplicity of design. It may be that some designs are disadvantageously becoming rather more expensive to manufacture and this may be due at least in part to the handle attachment arrangement. Additionally, further problems may be realized in the handle assembly where large tolerances are invariably involved.
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate one or more of the aforementioned problems.